1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to an apparatus and method for dynamically selecting properties to display in a table based user interface.
2. Background of the Invention
Many applications provide user interfaces that present data to a user in a table format. These tables generally consist of resources in rows in the table and properties of those resources in columns of the table. The applications normally provide a default set of property columns that are presented to the user. However, the applications also generally provide a mechanism that allows the user to set user preferred property columns, thereby overriding the default property column presentation. Nonetheless, the applications usually provide useful information to the user in the default property columns such that the user does not normally need to override the default settings.
Most applications provide the same default property columns no matter what type of resources are being viewed in the table. For instance, Microsoft® Windows® Explorer defaults the property information to include Name, Size, Type, and Date Modified. While in most applications the user can change the presented properties for a particular folder or for all folders, the applications do not change the property for a folder automatically and dynamically based on what resources are presented.